The study investigates the possible future effects of climate change in the Swat river basin and how this may impact the feasibility of the proposed dam and other hydro power investments in the Malakand region. The proposed Munda dam will be located at the border of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Mohmand agency, about 37km North of Peshawar.
Conducted by an international consortium of consultants comprising AHT-Group (Germany), Hydroc (Germany) and NESPAK (Pakistan), results from the US$1.2M study are expected by September 2013.
Pre-construction works and detailed design of the dam started in 2012 with support from the Agence Française de Développement (AFD). Construction of the Munda dam could start as early as 2014 and is estimated to require US$1.5B in funding. The multi-purpose project comprises a 213m high and 713m long concrete faced rock filled dam which, upon completion, will generate 740MW of electricity or 2.4BKWh annually. It will also be able to irrigate more than 6000 hectares of land and control downstream floods in the low lying areas of Nowshera, Charsadda and Peshawar districts. These areas were heavily affected by the 2010 flash floods.
